A Houston high school counselor lost her job after police accused her of having sex with a 12th-grade student at her home several times.
Ellen Wermeling, 32, faces charges of having an improper relationship with a student. Police launched an investigation in March after the victim told a football coach at MacArthur High School that he’d had sex with Wermeling on multiple occasions, according to KHOU.
In an off-camera interview with the station, the boy, who is a senior at the school, said that Wermeling invited him to spend time with her one night after he told her via Instagram that he was bored.
“At the end of the day, I’m 18, and I’m an adult and I make my own decisions,” he said. “In the heat of the moment, nothing really was wrong… Except the only thing that was wrong was I was a student.”
The station reports that the school’s principal showed officers screen shots of a conversation between Wermeling and the student on Instagram.
When interviewed by police, the teen told investigators that he started messaging Wermeling on Feb. 28 via her Instagram account, because he was bored and had nothing to do. He said that she agreed to pick him up at his house so they could “hang out.”
Wermeling allegedly drove the student back to her apartment. HLN reports:
Once they arrived at her apartment, the student said he and Wermeling were watching a movie on her bed when he began massaging her shoulders. They removed each other’s clothes and began having sexual intercourse and oral sex, the student told police, according to the complaint.
Additional encounters occurred on March 6 and March 8, according to police.
Wermeling denies that she had sex with the student, and also said that they never communicated on Instagram. According to KPRC, the woman deleted her Instagram account on March 25, the same day she learned of the allegations.
The Aldine Independent School District issued a statement confirming Wermeling’s dismissal from the school.
“The staff member was removed from the campus once the district learned of the allegation and will not be returning… The safety and security of our students will continue to be a top priority in Aldine ISD,” the statement said.
The victim told KHOU that he thinks Wermeling shouldn’t be allowed to work with kids.
Wermeling is free after posting $10,000 bond. She appeared in court Friday, where a judge reset her case for May.
